"But..."
Shen Yi pulled his thoughts back and looked again at the dazzling cloud of Dawn Star Mist.
"Judging by Xilos's reaction, whether this is part of Byron's plan or not, it looks like we'll have to meet Enrosis."
The pull Xilos felt toward that gentle life rule was so clear that she could not possibly have missed it herself.
Once she emerged from her contemplation and understood what that resonance meant, along with the direction Byron's earlier words had pointed her in, her pursuit of power would make it hard for her to turn down an opportunity that might suit her better.
Shen Yi put the matter aside and waited quietly.
The radiance of Dawn Sun continued to shine across Myriad Hearts Stone Plaza. The Rule Star Mist flowed and shifted, while Xilos's steady aura gradually took on a hint of harmony and transformation.
Her attraction to that gentle rule, and her first resonance with it, seemed to be subtly tempering the Origin of the Flame of Continued Combustion within her. It had come from Shen Yi, yet had always carried a trace of destruction and restlessness. Slowly, her flames gained a vitality and tolerance they had never possessed before.
Time passed quietly.
At last, the dazzling mist surrounding Xilos began to contract and collapse inward before their eyes.
The warm, blazing white light receded like a tide, swiftly returning to the gray-brown crystal of the Myriad Hearts Stone. Only a faint lingering trace of the rule remained in the air, along with a barely perceptible, soothing warmth full of vitality.
Xilos's figure came back into focus.
She stood where she was and slowly opened her eyes. Flames still burned steadily in her red gaze, but they seemed to have gained an indescribable warmth and luster, losing some of